Hosted by Editor in Chief Lorenzo Norris, MD, Psychcast features mental health care professionals discussing the issues that most affect psychiatry.
Jun 24, 2020
Thomas Abt, JD, spoke with Nick Andrews about his talk at the TEDMED 2020 conference in Boston.
Mr. Abt (@Abt_Thomas), senior fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice, discussed his evidence-based and community-informed strategies for reducing urban violence. Mr. Abt earned an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and a law degree from Georgetown University in Washington. Mr. Abt also worked as a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office in New York, and as a teacher in Washington. He has no conflicts of interest.
Summary
Mr. Abt said the three fundamental principles of focus, balance, and fairness are central to interventions for reducing urban violence. This means focusing on people and places in which urban violence is concentrated, balancing between positive and negative incentives to reduce violence, and facilitating trust between the state and its citizens to foster a sense of fairness.
Mr. Abt’s book, “Bleeding Out: The Devastating Consequences of Urban Violence - And a Bold New Plan for Peace in the Streets” is a compilation of 10- 12 strategies using evidence-based interventions. Mr. Abt promotes strategies informed by data and vetted by communities.
References
Abt T. Bleeding Out: The Devastating Consequences of Urban Violence – And a Bold New Plan for Peace in the Streets. (Basic Books, 2019).
Obbie M. This man says his anti-violence plan would save 12,000 lives. The Atlantic.
University of Chicago. Urban Labs. Becoming a Man program.
Heller SB et al. Thinking, Fast and Slow? Some Field Experiments to Reduce Crime and Dropout in Chicago. National Bureau of Economic Research. Working Paper 21178. May 2015. Revised August 2016.
Medscape Psychcast bonus episode transcript: Click Here.
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Show notes by Jacqueline Posada, MD, who is associate producer of the Psychcast and consultation-liaison psychiatry fellow with the Inova Fairfax Hospital/George Washington University program in Falls Church, Va. Dr. Posada has no conflicts of interest.
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